First Awakening of Love

The four of them gathered around the table. It should have been a lively lunch, but Liu Fengyao's absentmindedness was too obvious. She took only two bites of her rice before stopping entirely.

Cen Xi'er sat down, picked up some food with her chopsticks, and mentioned casually, “Oh, by the way, I received an invitation from Lin Tangxi today. Song Mu and Lin Tangxi's engagement ceremony is set for three months from now, in midsummer. The Palace Master has already received an official invitation. Junior Sister, do you want to go with me? Lively occasions like this don't happen often!”

As soon as she finished speaking, the chopsticks in Liu Fengyao's hand made a soft clack. She gripped them so tightly against the rim of her bowl that her knuckles turned white for a moment before she let go.

She lowered her head and pretended to pick at the rice grains in her bowl, straightening her chopsticks, but she could no longer maintain even a hint of a smile.

Lin Zhiyue's gaze lingered on Liu Fengyao's face for a brief second before shifting to Cen Xi'er.

Cen Xi'er clearly hadn't noticed Liu Fengyao's unusual behavior and was still talking to Xiao Yuan about the invitations, mentioning things like how the Biluo Immortal Sect was making a grand display this time and how the Qingling Sect had already been preparing for a while.

Xiao Yuan offered occasional hums of agreement, spending most of his time eating in silence, but his gaze swept over Liu Fengyao's tightly clenched hand for a fleeting moment.

Lin Zhiyue had already figured out what was going on, but she kept a straight face and said nothing.

Once they finished their meal, Cen Xi'er and Xiao Yuan left first. Liu Fengyao sat in her seat as if unable to stand up, more than half of the rice in her bowl still untouched.

Lin Zhiyue waited for her to clean up and stand before naturally taking her wrist and leading her out of the dining hall to the stone steps outside.

“Fengyao,” she got straight to the point, “tell me the truth. Is your recent absentmindedness because of Song Mu?”

Liu Fengyao's shoulders trembled slightly. She stood in place and remained silent for a long while, her fingers twisting the cuffs of her sleeves, before finally opening up and telling her the reason.

After listening to her, Lin Zhiyue pieced together the whole picture.

Song Mu had run into the endangered Liu Fengyao in the Northern Realm Secret Realm and saved her. His attitude had been open and gentle—neither overly intimate nor cold and distant.

Liu Fengyao was at the age when a young girl's heart first awakens to love. Meeting a young man who acted like a perfect gentleman, was quite handsome, and had appeared right when she was terrified, her heart had been instantly captured.

Unfortunately, this man had just become engaged, and his betrothed was none other than Senior Sister Lin of the Biluo Immortal Sect.

Lin Zhiyue reached out and wrapped an arm around Liu Fengyao's shoulders. She didn't say any empty words of comfort, only gently patting her back.

Liu Fengyao leaned against her shoulder in silence for a moment, then took a deep breath and stood up straight. Her eyes were slightly red, but she didn't shed any tears. Forcing a faint smile, she said, “Alright, alright, it's just a small matter. I'll be fine in a couple of days. You don't have to worry about me.”

Lin Zhiyue looked at her forced composure and didn't call her out on it.

Liu Fengyao patted the back of Lin Zhiyue's hand and turned to walk toward her own courtyard. Although her back was held straight, her posture carried a distinct air of dejection.

Lin Zhiyue stood in place and watched her for a while, thinking to herself that this matter was indeed difficult to handle.

Song Mu was already engaged, and there was nothing Liu Fengyao could do.

She couldn't help, so she could only pretend she didn't know and let her slowly process it on her own.

...

Lin Zhiyue was crouching in her courtyard, feeding medicine to Tuanzi.

The little fellow had dug up a thorny spiritual herb from somewhere yesterday and taken a bite of it. Half of his mouth had swollen up, and he had been drooping his ears in a daze all day.

Lin Zhiyue had gone to the pharmacy to ask for a small bottle of swelling-reducing spiritual liquid. She was currently prying open Tuanzi's mouth to drip it under his tongue, but the little guy squirmed and refused to cooperate, kicking his four short legs wildly in the air.

Suddenly, the courtyard gate was pushed open with considerable force, the wooden door clattering loudly against the wall.

Liu Fengyao stood at the entrance. Her eyes were red, and the tip of her nose was slightly pink—she had clearly been crying.

Seeing Lin Zhiyue crouching on the ground holding Tuanzi, she froze for a moment. But soon, tears began to well up in her eyes again, and her voice sounded raspy. “Junior Sister... what should I do? I still can't let it go... I tried, I really tried. This morning, when I walked to the entrance of the main hall and saw the people from the Qingling Sect delivering invitations, my entire body went stiff. I couldn't even take a step...”

Lin Zhiyue was still holding Yuetuan's front paws, unsure for a moment whether to put down her task first or comfort her friend.

She wiped the spiritual liquid from her hands, placed Yuetuan on a nearby soft cushion, and stood up to walk over to Liu Fengyao.

Once set down, Tuanzi shook his head, licked the medicine from around his mouth, and looked up at Liu Fengyao. Then, he lowered his head to continue licking his paws, completely oblivious to human emotional troubles.

“Don't panic just yet,” Lin Zhiyue said, patting Liu Fengyao's shoulder. “Wait here. I'll call Second Senior Sister over so we can talk about this together.”

A moment later, Cen Xi'er arrived at the courtyard. The three of them sat around a stone table, upon which sat the remaining half-bottle of spiritual liquid from feeding Tuanzi and a small dish of spirit beast snacks.

Sitting on a stone stool, Liu Fengyao lowered her head and twisted her sleeves, recounting the entire sequence of events in a halting voice—from being saved in the Northern Realm Secret Realm to their subsequent chance encounters and conversations.

Cen Xi'er listened to the end and fell silent for a moment. When she spoke, her tone was much softer than usual. “Keeping it bottled up like this isn't the way. How about... we find a way to kill your hope?”

Lin Zhiyue's eyelids twitched. Senior Sister sure loves to talk about killing things...

“How do I kill it?” Liu Fengyao looked up, her eyes rimmed with red. “He didn't do anything wrong. He is polite and thoughtful to everyone, and he only saved me in passing. I don't even have a reason to resent him...”

As Lin Zhiyue listened, she reached out to stroke the fur on Tuanzi's back.

The little fellow had already recovered his energy. Crouching at the corner of the table, he licked his paws, squinting his eyes and nuzzling into her palm as she stroked him comfortably.

Cen Xi'er glanced at Tuanzi, her gaze lingering on that tuft of silver fur. “Junior Sister, you've raised this spiritual pet of yours to be quite energetic.”

“Yes, his name is Yuetuan,” Lin Zhiyue replied casually, then turned back to Liu Fengyao and said seriously, “I think you just can't let go of that lingering hope in your heart. If we can get Song Mu to tell you himself that he doesn't like you, you will finally hear it clearly and be able to give up. Whether he gets engaged or who his marriage partner is will have nothing to do with you anymore.”

Liu Fengyao remained silent for a long time before finally nodding gently, as if she couldn't think of a better way herself either.

Cen Xi'er nudged Liu Fengyao from the side. “Why don't you write a letter to him? Cultivators should avoid lingering mental knots at all costs. Dragging this out won't do you any good.”

Lin Zhiyue turned her head to look at Cen Xi'er. She said nothing, but her eyes clearly conveyed her thought: Second Senior Sister, do you really have the face to advise her with those words?

The three of them sat for a while longer. Liu Fengyao's emotions gradually stabilized. Before leaving, she gave Lin Zhiyue a hug and reached out to pat Yuetuan's head.

Yuetuan tilted his head as he was rubbed, letting out a small sneeze. Liu Fengyao was amused, and the corners of her mouth curved up slightly.

After the courtyard gate closed, Lin Zhiyue and Cen Xi'er exchanged a glance. Neither of them spoke.

Before leaving, Cen Xi'er took another look at Yuetuan and commented with a subtle expression, “Where did you get this creature? It looks neither like a wolf nor a dog.” Then, she departed as well.

Lin Zhiyue crouched down again and scooped Tuanzi back into her arms. The little fellow yawned in the crook of her arm. His mouth was no longer swollen, and his light blue eyes were watery and bright.

She sighed, unsure if this plan the three of them had cooked up would actually work, but at least it was better than letting Liu Fengyao keep it bottled up inside alone.

She didn't want to get involved in other people's romantic affairs—though there was hardly any real affection to speak of between Lin Tangxi and Song Mu anyway.

But when all was said and done, compared to others, she cared more about Liu Fengyao.